"He just wanted to be great, and the kids respected how much knowledge he possessed." -- Kean coach Dan Garrett on Mike Teel

Dan Garrett wasn't surprised when he received the phone call
last fall.

Mike Teel had been the quarterbacks coach at Kean
University in 2011, but then got out of coaching for over a year to pursue a
career with UBS financial services in New York City. The coaching itch returned
last fall and Teel reached out to Garrett, the head coach at Kean, to see if he
had an opening on his staff.

Garrett's response was, "One thousand percent yes."

Teel rejoined the Kean staff, logging 12-hour days for the
$5,000 salary part-time coaches earn. But he was happy to be back coaching, and
ultimately was put on the path to be hired this week as a graduate assistant at
Rutgers, where he will work with the quarterbacks as first reported by
mycentraljersey.com.

"If I had more to offer Mike, I would have never
let Mike leave," Garrett said. "But obviously with his background and his
network – if he knew coaching was it and that's what he wanted to do – the best
thing for him was to explore the Division 1 opportunities. Obviously he's
familiar with Rutgers, there's relationships established there, so you couldn't
ask for a better fit."

A DESIRE TO BE GREAT

The most prolific quarterback in Rutgers history, Teel owns
the school's career records for passing touchdowns and passing yards. The
Oakland, N.J., native was picked by the Seahawks in the sixth round of the 2009
NFL Draft, but never appeared in a game during a brief career that included stops with the
Patriots and Bears.

When Teel's playing career ended, he landed at Kean in 2011.
The Division 3 school in Union, N.J., with little history of football success was a departure
from Teel's background, but he arrived with no ego.

"(The players) absolutely loved him," Garrett said.
"Instantly, he wasn't trying to force his name. He wasn't trying to force that
he was the star at Rutgers, he wasn't trying to force that he was the guy that
went to the NFL."

Garrett said Teel would arrive at 8 a.m. and spend his first
two hours preparing for a meeting with the quarterbacks at 10 a.m. Then there was
practice and extensive film work, with most days ending around 8 p.m.

"In the film room, he's meticulous," Garrett said. "He's
rewinding the play over and over making sure the quarterback saw exactly what
needed to be seen. It was, 'Listen, I'm your coach, this is what we're going
over and we're going to cover A through Z. And if we have to come back through
the alphabet again and do it all over we're going to because you need to
understand how important it is.' He just wanted to be great, and the kids respected
how much knowledge he possessed."

The attention to detail carried over to the practice field,
where Teel's competitive drive and intolerance for laziness produced results.

"If you're not going full-speed as a wideout, he's going to
let you know. If the line isn't running down the field after the ball is
thrown, he's going to let them know," Garrett said. "He has passion and
enthusiasm, but the competitiveness in him, he doesn't want to be average. He
doesn't want anyone around him to be average. He wants to elevate everybody
through his attention to detail."

A NEW LEVEL OF QB COACHING

Tom D'Ambrisi was a three-year starter at quarterback
preparing for his senior season when Teel joined the Kean staff. D'Ambrisi said
he learned so much that he felt like a freshman again under Teel.

"I remember the first question he asked me was, 'Have you
ever been coached to play quarterback?' I'm sitting there thinking I had been a
quarterback for 8-10 years at that point," D'Ambrisi said. "From that day on, I
learned that I never was coached until I met Mike. He's a whole other level.
When it came to breaking down film and reading defenses, it was unreal at how
knowledgeable he was of the game."

D'Ambrisi had struggled as a junior and Kean finished with a
5-5 record. Under Teel's tutelage, D'Ambrisi and Kean underwent a
transformation. D'Ambrisi went from nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a
junior to 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions as a senior. And Kean went 10-2,
reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

"Mike was the reason why we had the success we had my senior
year," D'Ambrisi said. "A huge part of that was Mike Teel. From being in that
basement studying film with players all day to on the field and really just
grinding it out."

BACK WHERE HE BELONGS

Teel left Kean after that season and was named quarterbacks
coach at Division 1-AA Wagner College in February of 2012. But Teel lasted only
a month before leaving coaching to pursue a financial career.

"He enjoyed coaching, he liked being around it, but when
you're at the Division 3 level, not that it's less of a grind, but he wasn't
reaping any financial rewards from us," Garrett said. "He was putting in those
long days. It was seven days a week. You're talking about 12-hour days and if you
do the math, it's not really per-hour anything worthy."

View full sizeMike Teel was a star QB at Rutgers from 2005-08Noah K. Murray/The Star-Ledger

No one was surprised when Teel got back into coaching after
a year away.

"I know he tried to get into the business world and I told
him, '(Coaching is) where you belong," D'Ambrisi said. "I was the
first quarterback he ever coached and I told him right off the bat, 'That's
where you belong. You have a gift.' "

After Kean's season ended, Teel was prepared to join the UMass
staff, but that fell through when head coach Charley Molnar was fired on Dec.
26. Teel had been looking into other opportunities for the last month when the
position at Rutgers was offered.

"I think it came out of nowhere for him," Garrett said. "He texted me out nowhere and said, 'I'm with Rutgers.' I was happy as could be for him."

Life as a graduate assistant won't be much more glamorous
than Teel's time at Kean. There will be long hours and low pay, but he's back
home and he's on a coaching path that has the potential to be as successful as his playing
career.

"I think he can take this opportunity that Coach Flood has
provided for him and he can run with it," Garrett said. "He is as knowledgeable
as a young coach as I've ever been around. He's a Division 1 football player,
who has the NFL ties, now he's back home at Rutgers. That resume is going
to be able to take him wherever he wants to go eventually as long as he does
the great job I know he's capable of doing."